Simply the best: mourning Tina Turner
The world has lost one of its great singers of rock and soul music. Tina Turner died on Wednesday at the age of 83 after a long illness at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Commentators mourn the loss of a strong woman.
Impressive inner strength
The way Tina Turner coped with life's ups and downs is inspiring, says the Irish Examiner:
“In 1978, Turner was at a low point - she had split up with Ike, who abused her savagely throughout their married life; she was alone, in debt because of cancelled tour dates, and with children to support. When she left Ike she had 36c in her pocket and spent years toiling in relative obscurity before striking gold with her comeback hit, a cover of Al Green's Let's Stay Together. The inner strength which brought her through those tests shone through in stunning live shows which made her one of the great performers.”
She surpassed them all
Tina Turner was so much more than a musician, Aftonbladet muses:
“She was the woman who entered a deeply sexist music world and was subjected to everything that that world entails. She suffered abuse and betrayal. But she was also the singer who surpassed all the men around her. ... She was the black artist who started to work in an industry dominated by prejudice and racism. ... Those who imagine that popular culture cannot express important insights about the present or point to social problems probably never listen to Tina Turner. Nor do those who think that being socially critical just means distributing pamphlets or shouting slogans.”